People celebrate Tibetan New Year
Kathmandu, 2021 February 12, Friday
Zhang Chunhuan and his family members have dinner on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Medog, southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Feb. 11, 2021.
The Tibetan New Year coincided with the Spring Festival this year. Medog, with an average altitude of 1,200 meters, is located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Because of the poor traffic infrastructure in the past, Medog was once known as an “isolated island” on the plateau.
Eight years ago, Zhang Chunhuan, a young man from Shanxi Province, came to Medog. At that time, the traffic in the county located at the southern foot of the Himalayas was inconvenient. Zhang had to walk three or four hours from some townships to the county seat to buy daily necessities.
He never planned to make his home here one day. Nowadays, Medog has schools, shops and restaurants. A beautiful park has been built in the center of the county seat. It has become a tourist attraction in Tibet and an agricultural products base featuring tea, Tibetan medicine and characteristic agriculture.
In 2019, Medog shook off poverty. Zhang Chunhuan married Tashi Yudron, a woman of Monba ethnic group. Their daughter is four years old. Zhang’s parents have celebrated the Spring Festival in Medog for two consecutive years. On the eve of the New Year, Zhang pasted couplets, set off fireworks and had dinner with his family. “Now, Medog is my home,” said Zhang. According to statistics, there are more than 560 multiethnic families in Medog.
People of different ethnic groups help each other in farming and animal husbandry, and children of different ethnic groups study in the same classroom.
People here celebrate the New Year’s Day, the Lunar New Year, the Tibetan New Year, “Daqiang” folk culture festival of Monba ethnic group and other ethnic festivals. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
